Resource consents for earthquake affected buildings - updated 17/11/2010

10th September 2010

ViaStrada's planning staff are constantly reviewing the Christchurch City Council, Waimakariri District Council and Selwyn District Council planning processes and procedures that relate to the Canterbury earthquake recovery phase.  Reviews of central government and non-governmental initiatives to assist with recovery and redevelopment are also being undertaken (e.g., Recover Canterbury, Stronger Canterbury, Parliamentary Counsel Office, etc).

Regular updates will be provided on this webpage (see below).

Update at 1 February 2011- New Flood Management Rules now Operative:

The new flood management rules introduced by way of Variation 48 became operative as of 31 January 2011. 

These rules affect new buildings, alterations to buildings and earthworks in identified flood management areas.

The areas most likely to be affected by the new rules include parts of Sumner, Lower Styx/Kainga/Brooklands/Spencerville, Burwood (adj. Horseshoe Lake, Avon River, Travis Country area, etc), Wainoni, Bexley, New Brighton, Fendalton, Central City (adj. Avon), Avonside, Dallington, South Brighton, Hoon Hay and Beckenham (adj. Heathcote), Opawa, Woolston, Linwood, McCormacks Bay, Redcliffs, Ferrymead, Heathcote Valley, Early Valley and immediately adjoining Ponding areas - Hendersons Basin, etc

Update at 17 November 2010- New Flood Management Rules:

Christchurch City Council have signalled that new flood management rules (introduced by way of Variation 48) are likely to  come into effect in early 2011. These rules affect new buildings, alterations to buildings and earthworks in identified flood management areas. 

As a number of flood management areas have been badly affected by the earthquake and are likely to require extensive rebuilding works, a significant proportion of earthquake recovery work will now require resource consent unless existing use rights can be demonstrated.   Where resource consent is required, new building works will typically require elevated floor levels.

Update at 14 October 2010- Clarification on Building Consents:

A number of legislative amendments have exempted certain works from requiring building consent, where such approvals would have been required prior to the Canterbury earthquake.  In addition, clarification has been provided on the building works that do not normally require a building consent under the Building Act 2004.  

Links to this information are provided below:

Other opportunities for exemptions may also be possible on a case-by-case basis and according to the requirements of individual councils.

Despite exemptions from building consent, resource consent requirements may still apply.

Update at 20 September 2010- Legislative Changes to RMA:

A number of orders and regulations were passed late last week which affect legislation such as the Resource Management Act 1991 and Building Act 2004. 

A full list of these changes can be found at:

http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/pco-news/#earthquake

The changes to the RMA1991 include:

  • extensions and waivers of time (for resource consents, changes to policy statements and plans, and associated processes)
  • modifications to the provisions in section 330 (emergency works)
  • exemptions from resource consent requirements where section 129 of the Building Act applies

Further updates will be provided on this website as they come to hand, otherwise please contact one of our planners for further advice.

Update at 17 September 2010- Heritage & Character Buidings:

Enquiries are being received as to what 'character buildings' are- this being a term used by CCC alongside the more familiar term of 'heritage buildings'. 

The CCC information sheet on the process for demolishing earthquake affected buildings notes:

'Heritage buildings are those buildings listed in the Christchurch City Plan, Banks Peninsula District Plan, or Historic Places Trust register. Character buildings are those buildings which were constructed prior to 1945'.

The Council are clearly endeavouring to protect and retain as many earthquake-affected heritage and character buildings as possible.  However, until such time as Orders in Council (see below) are made, it remains unclear what regulatory controls actually apply to character buildings. 

Further updates will be provided on this website as they come to hand, otherwise please contact one of our planners for further advice.

Update at 15 September 2010- Canterbury Earthquake Legislation:

The Government enacted the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill on 14 September 2010, to 'ensure that the Government has adequate statutory power to assist with the response to the Canterbury earthquake'.

In short, this Bill enables the Governor-General to relax or suspend the requirements of a number of enactments (such as the Resource Management Act 1991 or Building Act 2004) where this is necessary to:

  • enable an efficient response to the earthquake; or
  • minimise further damage; or
  • avoid breaches of the requirements of these enactments which are unavoidable due to the earthquake. 

In practical terms, the actual impact of this Bill on Building Consent and Resource Consent procedures will not be known until an Order in Council is made by the Governor-General, based on a recommendation by the relevant Government Minister and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission. 

Until such Orders in Council are made, the existing consenting provisions are likely to apply (as discussed in the advice of 10 September 2010- see below). 

Further updates will be provided on this website, otherwise please contact one of our planners for further advice.

Advice at 10 September 2010 - Resource Consent Options:

With the Canterbury region's focus shifting from the earthquake aftermath to recovery, ViaStrada is looking at how it can assist with expediting the building and resource consent processes for those wanting to rebuild their premises.

A number of consenting options exist under the Resource Management Act and/or have been recently implemented by local Councils, and ViaStrada's planners are working with Council planning staff to ensure resource consent approvals are obtained as smoothly as possible.

Those options likely to be particularly relevant to quake affected building owners include:

1. Emergency consenting.

Section 330 of the Resource Management Act provides certain exemptions from standard resource consent requirements where people or property may be affected by a sudden event causing or likely to cause loss of life, injury, or serious damage to property.  The use of these provisions is likely to be very limited in scope and consultation with Council is essential. 

2. Retrospective consenting.

Retrospective applications for resource consent are not new and whilst applications made 'after the fact' will be unavoidable for many (e.g., partial demolition of listed heritage buildings in the immediate aftermath of the quake) caution should be exercised by others with retrospective consenting. Such a process carries the risk of the completed works being subject to conditions or modifications (or even turned down in limited circumstances), with consequential cost implications to then rectify the situation.

The extent to which retrospective consenting will assist building owners is likely to depend on the particulars of the work involved and the extent to which the building or site is being altered (i.e., the greater extent of change from pre-quake situation, the less suitable retrospective consenting is likely to be).

Applicants should seek the advice of Council planning staff and/or a resource management professional on retrospective consenting before undertaking works.

3. Fast track consenting

The Christchurch City Council ('CCC') has recently implemented a 'Fast Track' consenting process which is intended to provide a priority service for applicants who require the urgent processing of their resource consent application.

This process incurs a $350 fixed fee, over and above the standard Council consent processing costs and is available for relatively straightforward applications that meet a number of pre-conditions.

Upon acceptance to the Fast Track process, CCC guarantees to process the application within 72 hours of acceptance or refund the fast track fee.

As this process is subject to a number of conditions and limitations, applicants should seek the advice of Council planning staff and/or a resource management professional on the applicability of this process.

Further information can otherwise be found here.

Note- this process is not currently available within Waimakariri District and a limited fast track process is available in Selwyn District.

4. Streamline consenting

This recent CCC initiative effectively enables applicants to work directly with approved resource management consultants (such as ViaStrada) to prepare a combined application and Council decision in one. The Council then peer reviews the report submitted on behalf of the applicant and signs it off.

The process is 'streamlined' by removing the need for a separate planning assessment report to be prepared by a Council planner.

This process significantly reduces Council consent processing times and costs and offers improved certainty of time and outcome to applicants.

Again, certain criteria apply to those applications eligible for the Streamline Process, so applicants should contact Council planning staff and/or a resource management professional regarding this process.

A guide on the streamline process is also available here.

Note- this process is not currently available within Waimakariri or Selwyn Districts.

5. Existing Use Rights Certificates

These certificates authorise a building or activity on the basis that existing use rights apply, despite a breach of applicable rules in the current District Plan.

Such applications are likely to be particularly relevant to older residential and/or commercial properties that have:

  • buildings breaching bulk and location standards (e.g. boundary setbacks, site coverage, etc)
  • insufficient (or no) on-site car parking
  • large areas of signage
  • activities which are not normally provided for by zoning (e.g. corner shops in a Living zone)

Applications reliant on existing use rights require good information on the site history and an assessment of the extent to which the effects of the activity 'before' and 'after' are of a similar scale, character and intensity.

Existing use rights applications can be complex and advice from a resource management professional is likely to be required.

6. Conventional resource consent applications

Where time is less critical, the conventional resource consent process may suffice for applicants. The time and costs associated with this process can vary significantly, depending on the particulars of the proposal.

A summary of the resource consent process can be found on the CCC, SDC and WDC websites. 

ViaStrada will continue to work with planning staff at the Council offices throughout Canterbury to find ways of expediting consent applications for those affected by the earthquake and is happy to provide advice to individuals, designers and architects, engineers, and housing and construction companies on the most time and cost efficient way to obtain necessary consent approvals.

To find out more contact one of our planners in our Christchurch office.